


Red and Blue makes Purple

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron - Fandom, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Langst, M/M, Voltron au, au where some of lances family doesn’t survive the battle with sendak, kangst, klance, klance fluff, klangst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 12:37:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16810759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: AU where most of Lance’s family don’t survive the battle with Sendak, and Keith has instincts that lead to an unexpected comfort session with Lance.





	Red and Blue makes Purple

**Author's Note:**

> Fic heavily based off of this: https://mobile.twitter.com/klancemyway/status/1016488577868460033  
> Art was also made by @taytei.z on Instagram

Keith had always been so used to being alone.

This meant that being surrounded by so many supportive friends (and aliens) was a shock to him at first, and to be honest, he was still adapting to the fact that perhaps more than just one person cared about him. And when he had found Krolia, things had gotten even... stranger. In fact, there was no exact word to describe how Keith felt. Grateful, perhaps? Grateful that he had stuck around with the other Paladins when they had saved Shiro at the Galaxy Garrison, all those months... no, years ago?

Yet he knew that things were different for the others. They all had family on Earth, while Keith had only remotely missed looking at the stars after a long night of riding on his hoverbike. He had lived on his lonesome, in a small desert shack which barely provided much besides shelter and buried memories. And when the Paladins had returned to Earth, seeing the mass destruction and chaos which Sendak had caused, he knew he had to do something for humanity. He had to save them and his birth planet.

Even then, even after Sendak had been defeated, things were shaky. Earth was safe, and everyone was happy... or at least for the most part.

Although humanity itself had been saved, most of Lance's family members had been casualties. His parents, nephew, and two of his siblings had died, while the others still suffered of serious injuries, both mentally and physically. 

The most cheerful and upbeat Paladin hadn't been the same since. 

Lance... felt guilty about it. He blamed himself for something that was not at all his fault.  
It wasn't a secret. Everyone was able to see it, to see that he wasn't okay, yet when asked about it, he denied anything. Everything he said was blunt and direct - things were quiet without his corny jokes or snarky comments. Even Keith missed it.

So when he tried to talk to Lance for the second time since the battle, it was no surprise that the latter just said he needed time to recover, yet continued to not make eye contact with Keith or even properly acknowledge his presence. It had been like that all week - someone would try to talk to Lance, yet he wouldn't react, and he was practically as still as stone whenever he was around anyone.

It was now the ninth night after the battle with Sendak, and Keith couldn't sleep. It wasn't because of the nightmares this time... the nightmares of Kuron, of sacrifice, of almost dying while protecting Earth. It was just... a gut feeling. Like something was wrong. He couldn't exactly pinpoint what, but something was definitely bothering him. He had been laying in his bed for the past few hours, and it was currently around 2:00am. Deciding against trying to sleep for the what seemed like the eleventh time, Keith got up, suited himself with his Paladin armour, thanks to him no longer having his usual casual wear, and made his way out the door of his Garrison room.

The halls were quiet, as expected. He knew he probably shouldn't be wandering around at this time, assuming the Garrison guards might force him back to his sleeping quarters for what remained of the night. But he didn't care - there was no way he could just sit in silence and worry about something he couldn't possibly know.

So he walked. No where in particular, just went wherever his feet decided to take him. Making random turns, passing by the same rooms at least twice, until he finally brought himself to the large hangar which contained the MFE fighters as well as the Lions. No one was standing guard, yet a few lights on the opposite side of the room were lit. Making his way through the tall heavy duty doors, Keith decided to sneak over to the Lions. Was anyone there? Obviously not...

That's when he heard the sound of the eastern doors opening, and he hurried behind the nearest obstacle, which just so happened to be the Red Lion. Not risking a look at who was there, Keith remained still, silent, ready to strike if ever he found an enemy.

But when he was able to sneak a glance through Red's front legs, he spotted the design of familiar blue armour. Lance?

All of a sudden, the Red Lion activated, her yellow headlights flaring, and Keith jumped out of the way, almost stumbling over himself.

When he looked up, he caught a shocked Lance, fully suited in Paladin armour, dropping his helmet, which had been clutched in his arms. Narrowing his eyes, the former Blue Paladin picked up the helmet and shook his head, making his way to Red anyways. He wouldn't let Keith stop him from accomplishing his mission.

"Lance? What are you doing up at this hour?" Keith asked. "And why are you fully suited?" He knew he didn't really have room to speak, seeing as he was also fully suited and awake in the largest Garrison hangar.

Yet Lance kept on walking, face unreadable, and brows furrowed as Keith continued to speak.

"Lance, look, I know things have been difficult lately, especially for you, but you-"

Lance didn't bother listening to the rest of his words, and kept on walking, speeding up a bit. Red was lowering her head, and he was almost there.

"Lance, listen-"

Lance gripped his helmet even tighter, anger now showing on his face as clear as daylight. He would not let Keith stop him from what he had to do.

Keith had instantly noticed that something was off as soon as he had spotted Lance entering the room. He hadn't said anything so far, and was reactionless at first, yet his features now betrayed anger. He had dark bags under his eyes, and his usual demeanor was stiff and taunt. He didn't want anything to do with Keith, or what he was trying to tell him.

Lance was approaching, ready to sprint and push Keith out of the way if he had to. He hoped that Voltron's leader couldn't see the tears forming at his eyes, nor his muscles tensing. If Keith was still saying anything, Lance couldn't hear him - his brain had shut off any outside communication.

Keith had already been worried, yet now those feelings were mixing with suspicion as well as concern, sadness and anger. So far, only Lance had been able to make him feel like this at all once, and he didn't like it, not one bit. It was all too confusing.

Finally Lance was only a few steps from Keith. The latter had given up on trying to get to him through words, and had resorted to another method. "Stop it, Lance," he repeated for the second time, although knowing that it wouldn't do anything. "Back down."

Lance ignored him, again. He was now beside his teammate.

Keith grabbed Lance's arm firmly. "I said. Back. Down."

Lance continued to walk for a few paces, but Keith's strong grip prevented him from going too far. Standing still for a few moments, Lance dropped his helmet again. Finally, the tears broke free, like a river flooding and drowing him.

He fell to his knees, letting the pain and sadness take over. Keith was still holding on to his arm, and Lance let him. Slowly following his teammate's descent, Keith reached for Lance's shoulder, and grabbed his left hand in his own. Even though Lance was facing the ground with blurry vision, he could feel Keith's intense gaze resting on him.

Suddenly it dawned on him that Keith's touch had been the one to finally let him break, snap, shatter into a million little pieces. Make him feel... vulnerable.

"Lance. Look at me. Listen to me," Keith's voice invaded Lance's crazed mind, soothing him, soft yet raspy. It had its own beauty, he had to admit.

Slowly looking up, Lance wiped the tears away from his eyes, trying to get a good look at the face in front of his. It was so close, so calm. It stirred butterflies in Lance's stomach which he hadn't noticed before.

"I know you want to leave. I know you want to get revenge on those who did this. But think. Close your eyes, and think, Lance," Keith instructed, not letting go of his soft grip on Lance's hand. Both were now kneeling, one trying to support the other. The Red Paladin rested his head on Keith's shoulder.

He closed his eyes, doing what Keith said, and imagined exactly what was being described to him. "Think of your family. Think of those who have died, those who are in need, and those who remain strong. What would they say about this, Lance?" Lance let out a sob. "Would they want you to leave, to have you in danger and think you dead like they have all these years? Don't you want to be there for them, not risk your life in seek of something which won't give you any gain?"

Lance already knew the answer. He knew that they wouldn't approve, which was exactly why he had wanted to do this on his own, in secret, in the first place. Yet Keith, damned Keith, had beaten him to Red, and now here they were.

Lance knew he shouldn't be listening to him. They were all just lies, LIES, he knew. Why would his rival try to help him, anyway?

"Look, I... I know what it's like, Lance."

That made him look up again, eyes fluttering open, still wet from the tears.

"W...what?" Lance let out a soft whimper of words, barely audible to his own ears.

Keith sighed, loosening his hold on Lance. "I know what it's like. What it's like to lose family, to think they're dead, to want revenge and do anything possible to get them back. But I guess what I'm really trying to say is... It won't go well. If you leave and try to take down entire Galra bases on your own, you won't succeed. And you won't get any profit out of it - no one will. In fact, the team still needs you. I know it might be hard to believe, but... we need you. I need you, Lance."

Lance hadn't realized that he had been holding his breath as Keith spoke. He felt like he had just lived some crazy ten second dream, and he was going insane.

"You... you what?" Lance asked, voice now slightly stronger than before. He didn't want to believe it. It was all a lie.

Keith was tearing up now, voice cracking. "Look, I can't stand the thought of losing you. If you leave and you die, I can't possibly imagine what I would do. I-"

This time it was Lance's turn to reach forward. He wrapped his arms around Keith, embracing him in a genuine, tight hug.

They both stayed there, enjoying each others company, comforting each other. Eventually, Keith raised Lance's hand and rested it against his cheek, but Lance didn't stop him. He enjoyed this, as much as he told himself he shouldn't be. Keith was his proclaimed rival, and they weren't supposed to get along, yet they were experiencing another... bonding moment, as Keith had called it. Lance smiled at that. He smiled at... the thought of them. Together.

A few days later, things were awkward, yet not tense, whenever Keith and Lance saw each other or interacted. They tried to pretend like nothing had happened, but were failing miserably. Pidge had even made enough comments on their weird behaviour and Lance's improving mood enough times for the rest of the Voltron team to know.

Eventually the time came not even a week later when they had a mission to complete. Just a simple in-and-out operation to grab a few supplies and save more citizens. Everyone was getting ready to board their Lions, and Lance couldn't help but approach Keith before he entered Black.

"Hey, uh, Keith, I was just wondering if... maybe after this, you wanted to hang out, or something?" Lance stammered. Gosh, he was bad at this. He just wanted to take a break of this whole universe saving thing, and go out with Keith for a bit. You know, finally talk things over. Yet he knew that getting him alone was probably going to be hard, considering the times they were facing, but it was worth a shot. "Y'know, like, just to chill... or something. Maybe go for... a ride around the desert?" It would be a fun adventure.

Flustered, Keith considered the offer. "Y-yeah. Yeah, sure, a ride around the desert," he smiled fondly, with the hint of a blush.

Lance couldn't suppress his grin. He couldn't wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Angst hurts :)


End file.
